Finding our richest sources of creative inspiration is often through our experiences and connections with other people, places, and things.There is a difference between creative and artistic. They are related, but not synonymous. Art is the symbolic, interpretive expression of your perspective on a given subject. Creativity is shifting your perspective to look at a given subject in a new light. And creativity needs inspiration. The essential tool to visualize, think, organize, learn, plan, research and complete projects successfully.

The abundant visual and inspirational material that resides on the web is truly an amazing resource for us all. Photographs that we’ve never seen before, obscure design material that has never been published, contemporary (and vintage) art and architecture from esoteric sources, not to mention the wonderful oddities and ephemera… it is all out there waiting to be discovered.But without the passion and hard work of many, many people that take the time to locate, scan and assemble this material and ideas, we would not have the opportunity to enjoy these treasures. When I am looking for things that inspire me to create, there are many many ‘must see/read’ sites that I look at. So many artists, designers, thinkers, planners that share their ideas for us all to be inspired by…I’d like to take a moment to thank, acknowledge and link to some of these great and important sites.

-The inspiration for this entry was inspired in part from Danny Thompson, award-winning copywriter. His heroes are Walt Disney, Alexander the Great, Leonardo DaVinci and MacGyver. Take a look at:

-Lance Gallup, singer, songwriter, guitarist, writes an interesting piece about the concept of creativity & attitude. “While I’m primarily addressing musicians and other creative types in these little rants, many principles are common to all humanity and apply as well to engineers and bus drivers as they do to musicians and artists. One such principle, much maligned and overlooked is the principle of maintaining a positive attitude. It’s been said that man is the only creature born to the world in a natural state of disorientation. While other animals are immediately controlled by instinct — unaware of the possibilities and unable to question their inner drive — human beings have an awareness of themselves and their environment, and a godlike ability to create and to find meaning in that creativity.” www.lancegallup.com

Talk to Other Creative People – Ask them where they find inspiration. Studios, Retreats and the Wacky Weird…
Express yourself creatively before worrying about marketing. Have something important to say to the whole world. Art is best when it is challenging. Artists are too obsessed these days with making everything immediately digestible and profitable, out of fear of obscurity and failure. Be brave. Make something substantial.
-Natacha Garance from AtelierVisits, a recently created blog which interviews all kinds of artists/designers: visual, crafters, writers to name but a few. She explains: ”I want us to step into these artists lives for a bit and see what they’re doing, how they’re doing it, go inside their work space. Understand their creativity. A person is amazingly complex, and what’s in the mind is so intriguing. We can learn so much from one another. And artists themselves are the best ones to tell about their lives and their work.”www.ateliervisits.com/
-Dianna Amorde thinks everyone is “far more brilliant then they think they are”. She has created a unique, whole brain approach to unlocking intuition and creativity. A coaching technique for inspiring people who are ready to make a change; combining left brain science and right brain stories to deliver transformational whole brain presentations that lead to inspired ideas, she calls these “Aha! Moments”…her retreats are geared to looking within, and being open to the power of intuition, particularly for enhancing creativity.www.inspiredleap.com/index.html
-Dr Zoltan: Anti-Sociologist, Drum Programmer, TV Show Host, De-Realist, Essayist, Political Ventriloquist says: ”Do not listen to charlatans who try to sell you the secret, magical tricks and techniques to succeeding in a creative career. Creativity is a mysterious process, one that cannot be completely controlled.” He has 81 ideas on the subject:www.drzoltan.com/2008/07/14/ideas-on-creative-career-v11/

Enjoy the process!
Join online groups, forums, or check your area where creative folks get together to share ideas. Keep a journal, scrapbook, file, or storage box full of your ideas, sketches, photographs, articles, etc. This source is priceless on those not so creative days. Create an inspiration board and fill it with pictures, photos, magazine pages, textures, words, and anything else that inspires you.

While on a research assignment in San Fransisco last week, I discovered this little golden book at the SFMOMA. What a find! Truly inspirational in a cute paperback format. Full of ideas, tips, visions and questions to make you think out of the box. It addresses all aspects of the hype around the idea of creative industries, and asks: “Who are the new creatices?” A book by designers, writers, bloggers and generators, I keep this on my desk and turn to any page for concept inspiration and ideas.

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